Stuart Woods Books

A few quotes on how a beach can teach us so much about life and living. About how on some days, life may be bright and sunny, while on the others dark, stormy and scary. All you have to do is to be there and face it, no matter what happens.

“The cure for anything is salt water – sweat, tears, or the sea.”- Isak Dinesen

“You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water. Don’t let yourself indulge in vain wishes.”- Rabindranath Tagore

“I read and walked for miles at night along the beach, writing bad blank verse and searching endlessly for someone wonderful who would step out of the darkness and change my life. It never crossed my mind that that person could be me.”- Anna Quindlen

“To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me.”- Isaac newton

“My life is like a stroll on the beach…as near to the edge as I can go.”- Thoreau

“There is one spectacle grander than the sea, that is the sky; there is one spectacle grander than the sky, that is the interior of the soul.”- Victor Hugo

“Why do we love the sea? It is because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think.”- Robert Henri

“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.”- Mother Teresa

“Even the upper end of the river believes in the ocean.”- William Stafford

“Just as the wave cannot exist for itself, but is ever a part of the heaving surface of the ocean, so must I never live my life for itself, but always in the experience which is going on around me.”- Albert Schweitzer

“Eternity begins and ends with the ocean’s tides.”- Unknown Read the rest of this entry »

The Birth of Modern Art
Let’s take a look at how we created modern art. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, you have artists like Van Gogh and Manet, who didn’t really adhere to the current art scene. The people and their surroundings changed, and so did their thoughts. What all modern artists have (or had; most of them are now dead) in common is an aversion to realism and the formalities that tie an artist to it. They preferred seeing the world in a different light, and so they chose to describe that image in their own manner. The result was then known as ‘Modern Art’. In an effort to express their individuality, artists came up with their own style; unique and often bold. What we describe today as Fauvism and Dadaism are nothing but methods used by artists at that time to portray their art in the most unusual way possible.

The Creation of Contemporary Art
Moving on to the last 20 years from now, we have artists that faced the harsh reality, like the war (WW II, The Cold War), feminism and globalization. They grew up with ideals and thoughts different from what artists in the modern era did. So now you have a number of artists who consider the old methods of modernism as too conformist or vague. They now decide to make their own works or art according to their style. This gave rise to what we now call ‘Contemporary Art’.

The Differences Today
•Of course it isn’t that simple; there are always more than one ways to describe art. Contemporary art pays more attention to the society, while modern art tends to be self-expressive at times. The former is also a lot more receptive to changes in society.
•Another difference is the advancement in technology. Artists, today, have the camera, the computer and custom software. They will use these to their advantage as they see fit. This makes a huge difference in the works between the two types of art. Read the rest of this entry »

Here is a list of hip hop dance songs from the best hip hop albums of all time.
•Jesus Walks, by Kanye West
•Walk this Way, by Run DMC feat Aerosmith
•Fight the Power, by Public Enemy
•Hypnotize, by Notorious B.I.G.
•Real Slim Shady, by Eminem
•Can’t Touch This, by MC Hammer
•Getting Jiggy With It, by Will Smith
•Big Pimpin, by Jay-Z
•Mama Said Knock You Out, by LL Cool J
•Who’s That Girl, by Eve
•Make ‘Em Say Ugh, by Master P
•Planet Rock, by Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force
•Gin and Juice, by Snoop Dogg
•C.R.E.A.M., by Wu-Tang Clan
•The Humpty Dance, by Digital Underground
Some more Hip Hop Songs to Dance to
Here are some more great hip hop dance songs that will set the dance floor on fire.
•Party Starter, by Will Smith
•99 Problems, by Jay-Z
•Temperature, by Sean Paul
•Shake That, by Eminem
•Rapper’s Delight, by Sugarhill Gang
•Yeah, by Usher
•Pump it, by Black Eyed Peas
•Drop, by Timbaland & Magoo feat Fatman Scoop
•The Way I Are, by Timbaland feat Keri Hilson and D.O.E.
•4 Minutes, by Madonna feat Justin Timberlake and Timbaland
•Wait A Minute, by Pussycat Dolls
•Game Over (Remix), by Lil Flip
•Errtime, by Nelly
•1,2 Step, by Ciara Read the rest of this entry »

Dance has existed from the beginnings of time. Perhaps it even appeared before the very first tribes were formed, but most certainly dance grew in popularity with the development of tribal life. So dance has always been a part of people’s lives, although they did sometimes perform more than the entertainment function. Dances just had to be based on themes such as death, birth, the revival of nature in springtime, marriage, the teenagers’ growing up, hunting, winning a battle or war with one’s neighbors. Dance was also used for worshiping gods, agriculture, sexuality, chasing away evil spirits or for prosperity bringing rituals.

In time, dance lost all of these significances so that today it is only a form of art. It also has a communicative function among the participants. Aristotle explained the origins of rhythm by referring to one’s heart beats, the perfect metronome. Many types of dances appeared throughout time, which had different meanings but one single purpose, that of revealing the most elaborate movements, the moral conduct, the manners and the elegance of the dancer. In the European culture the very first record of dancing belongs to Homer. In his “Iliad”, Homer describes “chorea”(χορεία khoreia). The early ancient Greeks had turned the dance art into a sort of system, encompassing and expressing all the other different passions. For instance, the dance of the so-called “Furies” could generally create a very realistic atmosphere of terror and horrors, so that the audience was deeply moved. Dancing was ranked by the famous Greek philosopher named Aristotle with poetry. He said that certain dancers are able to apply rhythm to their gestures in such a way that they could actually express actions, manners, passions. What is interesting to know here is that the most prominent Greek sculptors closely studied and observed dancers’ attitude and movements in order to find inspiration in their art works.

In the beginning, there wasn’t any big difference between folk and social dances but in time they gained some other aspects. The minuet was from the 17th century on, a dance of elegance because it was practiced at the aristocratic courts. Waltz was quite popular during its age but also quite controversial because of the close distance between the two dance partners. The two World Wars have reshaped the entire dance fashion. So in the 20th century foxtrot and shimmy appeared. From the Swing improvisations of the 40s Jitterbug also appeared. Later on, in the 50s, rock-n-roll also appeared.